The Conger Eel has been described by the photojournalist Mike Millman as "magnificent, mean and moody". The description is perfect and many commentator's have tried to better it without success.

And surely few other fish come to the gaff, spinning and lashing the water, mouth snapping and exerting such tremendous pressure against the tackle. It features in the stories of many anglers as the monster fish, "the one that got away". It is the female of the species which grows to such large sizes whilst the male rarely exceeds any more than 25lbs in weight.

There is no doubt that these fish exist in much larger weights than the current rod caught record.  Many fish have been landed commercially in south west UK ports with weights well in excess of 150lbs gutted.  

My late friend Alan Levick who lived in Cornwall reported that in 1984/85 the fishing vessel "ANDROMARQUE" skippered by "Perko" caught a Conger Eel of 220lbs gutted weight, off the Manacles Reef, just after the Royal Navy had blown up a nearby wreck. Now that's some fish !  And yet again I can report in 2001 that the above named vessel trawled up another monster which weighed in at just over 200lbs. This time the skipper was John Brenton.

In 1961 a few anglers toyed with the idea of forming a specialist club for this particular specimen the "conger eel", the quarry of all sea anglers worth their salt. On the 17th January 1962 the  BRITISH CONGER CLUB was formed and the membership at that time mainly consisted from anglers and clubs from the Littlehampton area. The first A.G.M of the CONGER CLUB took place on the 5th April 1963 with the renowned angler Mike Connell being the chairman. 

John Marchant with 102lb 8oz Conger Eel captured with Skipper Tony Allen on the "NORVIC".    (Picture courtesy Russ Symons)

Boats that were soon to become household names for conger eels soon began to arrive on the scene. The first being the "KON-I-NOR" skippered by Dudley Stone and then the "OUR UNITY" skippered by that great duo of John Trust and Ernie Passmore both based at Brixham.  

The next new name was the "GIRL ALISON" from Torquay.  Boats specializing in conger catching gradually appeared further west at Plymouth with "ANJONIKA", "JUNE LIPET", "BOA PESCADOR" and "SUNLIT WATERS".

As ling were gradually cleared from the wrecks, really big conger started to appear and the record breaking saga started.  In 1970 Colin Chapman of Southampton fishing from the "OUR UNITY" broke H.A.KELLY's 1933 record of 84lbs by just 1lb fishing over a wreck in Lyme Bay.  

Only 17 days later the record was broken yet again by Peter Arscott with a specimen of 92lbs 13oz from the "GIRL ALISON".  The record was broken yet again in 1973 by Billy Oaten fishing from the "OUR UNITY" with an eel of 95lbs 11oz.

The first "ton up" eel was taken in 1974 off Cornwall by angler Ron Thompson.  His 102lb 8oz fish was caught on a baited pirk.  Ron Thompson did not seek membership of the Conger Club but his fish became a milestone in conger fishing.

Two years on in 1976, Robin Potter broke the record with a fish of 109lbs 6oz at a wreck near the Eddystone Lighthouse from the Plymouth based charter boat the "BOA PESCADOR" skippered by Steve Barrett. Once again this fish was captured on a baited pirk.

Newer faster boats had arrived on the scene and the older vessels departed.

Tony Allen skippered a fast Lochin 33 called "NORVIC" out of Plymouth and John Marchant was the first client to catch a 100lb + eel on this new high speed craft. John Marchant is pictured above in the colour picture with 102lb 8oz Conger Eel. This was followed by Wally Ellis with a fish of 101lb 8oz a few months later.

 In the next few years new names such as "NIKARA", "ELECTRIC BLUE", "SALTWIND", "MISTRESS", "ANGLO DAWN 11" and the "MIDNIGHT EXPRESS" started to make waves.

Skipper Tony Allen gaffs Paul Edginton's 90lb Conger Eel aboard "ELECTRIC BLUE". (Picture Capt. Tony Allen)	Trevor Kerrison's World Record Conger Eel of 111lbs 4oz captured aboard "ELECTRIC BLUE" (Picture courtesy Mike Millman)

 

That record had stood untouched for 15 years until August 1991 when the Plymouth based charter boat "MISTRESS" captained by my good friend Bill Warner at last the cracked the record with a magnificent fish of 110lbs 11.5oz caught by Hans Clausen a long time member of the Conger Club. Just nine months later an explosive time in conger eel catching took place which must be unprecedented in the history of Conger fishing.  

Eels of 100lb plus were starting to be caught with what seemed to be regularity. It is interesting to note that all of these fish were caught after the barometer suddenly plummeted to give "low pressure" at the same time as neap tides.